Sandglass
by RattytheScourge
Summary: Veil is dying. Is Bryony ready to do ANYTHING to save him?


The night came; it was not a moon, calm and summer night as it was for the other beasts – no, the night for Bryony was a dark, a pitch dark night, the darkness was thick, it was like slime, or filth blobs, no sound could penetrate her mind through this darkness. The darkness, the abyss of despair, the soul darkness. Bryony was sitting at a nailed-up boarding where her son was dying.

Bryony could not even remember how she in a surprisingly dispassionate, especially for her manner stopped the running blood right with her paws, how she removed the dart, and tried to wrap an awful wound in the ferret's back.

How calm and businesslike she asked the hares to leave all sorts of medicines, how persistently she asked neither to stay with her, nor to ask her to leave with them, just to help her to arrange the shack.

Bryony could not remember how everybody had left her here, where the former Swart's camp used to be, and how only he had stayed with her – her fast friend Togget.

Togget!

Togget – it was him who without waste emotions as all moles do arranged their crude lodgings, it was him who found the food, woodfuel, healing herbs, it was him who carried water and heavy things, it was him who helped to transport Veil.

Togget like an invisible guardian angel was close to her and helped her, being invisible and unnoticeable he tackled those problems which seemed too heavy for Bryony, and unsettled her.

Bryony could totally concentrate on Veil, focus on him solely, because Togget was close to her. Bryony didn't think what to eat, or where to get the medicine from – everything appeared a moment before she opened her mouth to ask for it.

Still she was alone. It was the kind of loneliness when her most special beast was in trouble and everybody around her made peace with his going to die.

Everybody agreed that Veil was going to die. Bryony could not think how it had ever occurred to them. How could Veil, how could her Veil die? How would rivers flow in the same way, birds sing the same songs, grass grow likewise, and HE would not exist?

All Bryony's life was spinning around Veil, she lived and breathed for him, she could not even cast a thought that he would not be in this world of the living. She could not admit that all methods had been tried, all chances had been taken, all means and prayers had come to the end, and everybody had already made peace with it.

Everybody wanted to sooner leave that place, go back to Redwall... without him. They had already forgot about him, though he was still alive. "Leave him…", "Let him fall asleep", "You only torture him", "He will die anyway", "You do him all the worse" – everybody one and all was harping the same thing. Surrender, accept it, life went on. But Bryony's heart could not accept this truth, mother's heart is partially mad, that's why mother love is strong.

Bryony believed that Veil would survive. Or why would this world exist?

Bryony didn't trust anybody. She was sitting next to Veil as a silent guard, taking notice of his breath. She personally washed his wounds, gave him drugs to drink. Bryony was afraid of falling asleep for a moment, she knew the death was only waiting for her to close her eyes and leave her post. No way, she would prevent it. The main thing was to pass through the crisis, that moment when Veil's condition would be close to death. Then he would snap back or… No! Bryony shook her head. Then he would snap back!

Bryony was diligently stuffing herself with food, not quite tasting it. She could not go soft, it was not the right moment. One day she would cry away all her fear, all despair of her condition, one day she would fall down exhausted for not having slept for so long and cause of the tension, but now she had not the right to do it. She had to chase the death away with the bare paws.

The curtain closing the exit moved aside silently, and Togget came in.

"Miss Bryony?"

Bryony's instincts told her WHAT he was going to say, but she only swallowed and turned her head slightly.

"Yes?"

"Miss Bryony... " Togget faltered awkwardly and came closer to the mouse. Not a strand of fur moved on her body, Bryony froze stone-still.

"Hurr, Miss Bryony, you know, I'm always by your side, supporting you. "

Bryony kept silent.

Togget was also silent, the ringing silence was interrupted only by ferret's hoarse, uneven breath.

" Bryony…" Togget even dropped "miss". "Well, hurr, you know yourself, that's the end. Let him… hurr… die calm, don't torture either yourself or him. Believe me that will be better, hurr. Let him go…"

Bryony kept silence for a while and answered in a dryly-formal tone:

"Togget, thank you for your help, I'm really grateful to you. I wouldn't survive without you. But it's not for you to decide what to do with Veil, should he live or die. I will "torture" him, as you said, to give him a chance. He won't die. "

"But, miss Bryony..."

"I told you, Togget, - Bryony raised her voice. "He won't die! I won't let it happen," she said in a lower voice. "As long as I breathe so will he do."

Togget stepped back to the shadow, and Bryony continued her vigil.

Suddenly she felt like crying, it was the first time during all these painful hours. There was nobody who understood her. Veil was already dead for everybody else, and she was wasting her mental capacities on him. She had to move on… How could she move on without him? What if Veil was her reason to live? She was alone resisting all the alive and the death, she was alone, face to face with the death wound.

"I won't give in!" Bryony whispered.

Bryony could not remember later on for how long she sat like this. Likely the dawn broke and Togget left to gather some woodfuel and herbs for a soup.

Bryony's quick ear captured pitchless knocking of some bijou and soft steps.

Bryony leaned forward still not leaving her post at the bedside and slightly moved aside the entrance curtain.

The healer! The old vixen-healer bedangled with charms and small baggies from top to toe was stirring at the place of the Swart Sixclaw camp. There were so many things for the vixen – tails for remedies, teeth and claws to cancel hoodoo, some odd bijou, small stones, robbers' trophies. The vixen was also happy about different daggers and poisons among the belongings of the dead.

"Hey! Vixen!"

The old vixen almost jumped out of her skin. She hardly turned tail when the shack curtain opened and the pretty mouse appeared.

"Vixen! The healer! Come here, don't be afraid!"The mouse asked.

A mouse in such a place?! The vixen looked around slowly – half-buried carnivores' dead bodies, the smell of burning… and this little shack.

"Come!" She heard once again.

On the other hand, why would she be afraid of a little mouse? The healer snicked and felt her dagger in the plaits of her skirt just in case. She was not the one to be afraid of. Maybe the mouse wanted her to tell fortunes, and old Zara would get an ample award. Turning the curtain back with a thievish move the vixen slid inside.

"What can I do for you, the sweetest miss," the Vixen dragged out her recitative. "What old Zara can do for you? Shall I foretell you a fiancé, or remove a romance wrecker?"

"No-No-no," Bryony pattered grasping the vixen's paws not to let her go. "I know vixens can heal anybeast. I don't have enough knowledge, we need curses, magic. Please, help my son!"

Zara looked around bewildered – it was all so strange. Following the mouse pointing paw she saw the half-dead ferret. Was he the mouse's son? The mouse was evidently mad. It was better to go away.

"He is a goner, it's clear. I can't help you," the vixen tried to take her paw back but the despair enforced Bryony.

"Please! At least try! He should not die! I pray! I can cry, do whatever you want, I'll be your slave to my death! Only help him!"

Bryony fell down her knees squeezing the vixen's paws.

"What can I do?" Zara resented. "Can I bring the beast back from the Dark Forest! He doesn't even have his heart rate!" The vixen finally pulled her one paw back and snatched the ferret's wrist.

Suddenly she was kind of hit by lightning. The healer found herself between the mouse and the ferret like a conductor holding the ferret's paw with her one paw and her other paw was on stranglehold of the mouse. Zara fell into trance, forces much exceeding her "magic" knowledge captured her mind. The healer closed her eyes and said in monotonous voice:

"Yes, he's a goner, and you're either! I can see, I see mouse Bryony among the dead, but you escaped the Dark Forest at its' threshold. You're not the mother of Sixclaw's son, he's not your son. But your destinies are bound together so tightly that I can't tell where his destiny starts and where yours does. It's up to you to decide whether to follow him to your death, and up to him – to decide whether to stay with you on the death threshold, your choice has bound your destinies, messed up all cards. "

Zara regained consciousness and harshly pulled her paws back. The vixen was breathing heavily, her snout was in a bath of sweat.

Bryony looked at her questioningly.

"There is a way, mouse, probably you love your adoptee dearly," Zara rasped. "It's life for life, and you are not quits."

You should have died at this dawn, and he has covered you. So if you're ready to give him the half of your seasons who am I to stop you. Each of you two will live the half of the fixed time, apparently it's by a quirk of fate.

"I agree, I agree!" Bryony cried. A hope inspired her heart, her eyes glistened feverishly. Was it possible to save Veil? She knew it, she believed in it!

The old vixen squatted and started to dig her bag. She turned and looked attentively at the mouse.

"This is ancient witchcraft, you understand? You will give the half of you seasons to the ferret, and he will stay alive. But you will have to immediately leave this place, and you mustn't also meet your former acquaintances. You will be eternal outsiders. "

"I agree, I agree!" Bryony nodded quickly. Why did this old witch linger?!

It occurred to Bryony unintentionally that it was not long time ago that she lived in Redwall – it would have never occurred to her to talk to a vixen, moreover vixen-healer. Decent young mice stayed away from such predacious creatures.

It was strange how the world had changed for Bryony, now when she saw the most dreadful thing – Veil with the dart in his back – everything was a child's game to her. This new feature of her character frightened her.

"Now I can do anything..." - Bryony thought.

Meanwhile Zara drew some strange circles and signs on the floor, and put some weird brown and black candles. Mumbling some charms she funked the corners with different herbs and did many other ominous actions. Finally the old vixen took a curved ceremonial dagger and a sandglass. There was a strange-looking substance instead of sand in the sandglass, suspiciously looking like bones – it was likely a powder made of beasts' bones.

"Well, sweetie, everything's ready. Have you finally made up your mind?" Zara looked sideway at Bryony with a carnivorous grin in the corners of her mouth.

"Yes!"

"You haven't listened to the end, you little stupid thing!" The vixen got furious suddenly. "Witchcraft is not gathering herbs, you see? This ceremonial knife should be ensanguined with your blood, with your ferret's blood, but to make it all work, the knife should take the life and blood of a beast who has nothing to do with it as a sacrifice. After that put the knife in the center of the circle and turn the sandglass upside down. As soon as the last grain falls down the ferret will open his eyes."

"The life of a beast who has nothing to do with it…" Bryony echoed.

"Here, take it!" The vixen put the ceremonial knife in the mouse shaking paw. "Or are you afraid?"

No, Bryony wasn't afraid. She was taking a decision. The choice of sacrifice for Veil was small – whether this vixen, or Togget.

The young mouse was calmly thinking of her future actions. The cost of the ferret's life didn't seem too high to her. Veil's life was above all moral values. If there was a slightest chance that he stayed alive she should take it. She had to.

"Killing the vixen will be quite difficult, she's strong and cunning, - Bryony thought gloomily. – I can't stab her strongly without practice. I will only injure her and she will become more evil… She will kill me, and then Veil. Togget? But how will I nurse my Veil without Togget then? I won't manage it. I won't be able to as I can't leave, and somebody have to gather medical herbs. That's settled. I must kill the vixen". The mouse's thoughts were going only in one direction – what was better for Veil. Veil still NEEDED Togget, vixen – already not.

Zara was looking at the young mouse with curiosity, grinning mischievously because of her confusion. She could only kill that mole that the healer saw close to the road. Those peaceful beasts! They were so funny and awkward with their ideas of love and friendship! It was still more pleasant to pit them against each other. Zara giggled and suddenly she writhed from acute pain in the stomach.

Bryony stabbed smash the healer, and then she stabbed her several times at the back. The vixen fell on the dirt floor writhing and croaking. Bryony stabbed her several times more with mechanical stubbornness until the vixen stopped moving.

"You be damned..." Zara whispered.

Bryony didn't pay attention to her words. Having dabbed the body to make sure the vixen was dead she put the knife into the middle of the circle and turned the sandglass.


End file.
